LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. - For the Atlanta Braves, Florida has been a spring of hits, and we're not talking about Bruce Springsteen making a stop in Jacksonville.

Despite leadoff man Rafael Furcal's missing two weeks with a sprained ankle and Chipper Jones' nursing a sprained thumb, the lineup heads into the weekend's exhibition games against the Red Sox at Turner Field with a .300 batting average, 23 points better than last spring's average.

And when all the Grapefruit League numbers are added up, the Braves will emerge from their spring exercises with an offense that eclipses the pitching staff.

"The hitters did a pretty good job this spring and we have to be encouraged by that," Gary Sheffield said. "

Last spring, the hitters produced 134 runs in 31 games. They have already surpassed that total with two games remaining, scoring 151 runs in 29 games.

Sheffield, who knocked in three runs in Thursday's Grapefruit League finale, a 7-2 win over the Astros, has 14 RBI in 21 games. Andruw Jones has driven in 12 runs in 19 games. Chipper Jones is batting .425. Robert Fick had two doubles against the Astros and is batting .321. Furcal is hitting .424 and has scored nine runs in 12 games.

The hitters are already there. For the first time in many years, the pitchers are trying to catch up.

Hampton strong

After horrific starts by Jason Marquis and Andy Pratt this week, Mike Hampton restored order to the rotation Thursday, working four innings and allowing one unearned run in a tune-up for next Wednesday's start against the Expos.

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"The only time the ball was hit was when it was up," said Hampton, who ended the spring by not giving up an earned run in his last 10 innings. "When I feel myself dropping down with (my sinker), it doesn't take long to get it back. The work we put in this spring has definitely paid off."

Hampton, whose ERA was 8.00 two starts ago, finished the spring with a 4.13 ERA. His sinker has become a consistent weapon, and he changed speeds effectively against the Astros. More important, he understands he must rely on his command and movement of his pitches, rather than power, to be successful.

"I'm not going to go out there and strike out the world," he said. "I know what I can do and how to do it."

Furcal comes back hot

After missing nearly two weeks of games with a sprained ankle, Furcal has been one of the team's hottest hitters. Since returning to the lineup, he is 11 for 24 and has played outstanding defense.

"I've got to pull the reins in on him the next three days," manager Bobby Cox said. "He's been flying around, getting his hits, and not favoring his ankle at all."

Furcal credits winter ball in his native Dominican Republic with preparing him for the spring. He played the last 25 games of the regular season, then played the postseason and the Caribbean World Series, ending just a few weeks before camp opened.

"The winter league is very important to me," he said.

As he promised at the end of last season, Furcal has focused on cutting down his strikeouts and putting the ball in play. He's whiffed just twice in 33 at-bats, a far better ratio than the 114 strikeouts he amassed in 636 at-bats last year.

Byrd stays put

Paul Byrd stayed behind when the team broke camp Thursday to pitch in a minorleague game Friday. The right-hander, who has pitched once since March 4 because of tendinitis in his right elbow, plans to work three or four innings with a 50-pitch limit. He will rejoin the team in Atlanta for Opening Day, then return here to start another game Tuesday or Wednesday.

If he doesn't experience any pain in his elbow, he could be activated from the disabled list April 6.

"He needs to get pitch-sharp too, not just pain-free," Cox said.

Byrd played catch Wednesday and indicated his elbow felt fine.

"I'm very optimistic now," he said.

This and that

Fick still can't believe his good fortune in going from the last-place Tigers to the Braves. "This is something I've been waiting for a long time," he said. "To have that feeling that baseball is fun again. It's awesome. We know we're going to win. I've never really gotten to experience that before. It's been awesome, better then I expected." ... The Braves drew 124,002 fans to Disney's Cracker Jack Stadium this spring, their second-best total in six years at the complex. The team averaged 8,267 fans per game, including four sellouts.